Backstory of /v/lancer
Confused about what the god damn motherfucking hell is going on in /v/lancer? Read on broski, we may not be RPFags, but we like a good story. The Rise and Sort-of Fall of Broski Enterprises Alright, the time period is one year after the events of Freelancer, not some bullshit "HURR IS 400 YEARS IN FUTURE BUT ALL SHIPS AND STASHUNS SAME." Get it? One. Year. What happened? Does it really matter? Sure maybe Trent and Juni had something and shit happened, maybe King colonized a small planet populated only by himself, maybe Orillion was found dead in an alleyway dressed in BDSM gear, but the point is, who cares, after all, Trent is still his alcoholic money-loving jacket-wearing self. Anyways, enough about that shit, you'll learn more about them in the mod. Who you need to know about are those gosh-darn loveable fuck-your-shit-up bromo sapiens known as Broski Enterprises. Again, after a year of peace, tranquility in the Freelancer universe, a fleet of enormous ships suddenly start appearing. These are Broski Enterprises, a corp from the EVE universe who either immigrated, or otherwise were kicked out from their dimension into Freelancers. But, they aren't there to destroy, but come on a so-called mission of "economic gain and share.". Of course, this fucks absolutely everything up. Broski tech is hundreds, maybe thousands of years ahead of Sirian tech. Their weapons, their ships, even their god damn fucking washing machines blow the current standard out of the water/nebula/whatever the fuck things swim in these days I don't know it's space. In short, they nearly bankrupt every single fucking person in existence. Their reality bending weapons and ships also create rips in space-time, creating new and sometimes physically impossible systems and jumpholes. And through it all nobody learns anything about the fucks, despite their numbers they remain completely illusive. Then, as soon as it started, it ended. The Broskis just disappeared, fucked off to parts unknown. Any of their tech was either confiscated or went with them, or alternatively went missing. With the economy and military and pretty much everything in Sirius in shambles, people began to rebuild, new factions took advantage of the situation like a rapist takes advantage of a two-year old, the most important of these being an elite group of misfit Freelancers, flying whatever they can find, trade, or build. They are the result of Broski Enterprises, they are the /v/lancers. The Current Situation After the Broski Incident, things... changed. The four houses became less "Pre WW2 in space" and more "Suddenly history in space but the time periods are all messed up but who gives a fuck". The Great Ultra-Capitalist Pig Disgusting Society that is known as Liberty Space America was among the first to recover economically, a little too well however. Inspired by Broski's consumerism ideals and "bromunism", Liberty became ruled by corporations, in all aspects. They became the only of the four houses to completely embrace the shithole situation they were in, and the majority of Liberty supports their consumerism society, and all of Liberty supports expansion of their territory. The new factions in Liberty are: SODA Inc. Originally a front for Synth Foods in order to gain footholds in new colonies and otherwise skeptic areas, SODA is the only truly evil faction in /v/lancer. After virtually consuming all of Synth Foods, SODA maintains a vicious, but largely unseen, grip over almost every single colonized system in Sirius. Even in places where Liberty is hated, SODA tradeships can be seen. SODA is not actually an acronym, but literally soda (SODA, it's the Drink, that is soda). At least arguably soda, its more like liquid mind-control fluid, high addictive, and causes violent and usually fatal symptoms when a SODA drinker suffers from withdrawal. Strangely enough, only the Cardamine addicted Outcasts remain unphased by SODA, and are devoting most of their resources to the overthrow of SODA and their evil fruit drink. ProTerra The second largest corporation in Liberty, ProTerra is a decidedly neutral faction, merely consisting of pioneers and terraforming exports. Like the name suggest, ProTerra is a colonization effort, though backed by enormous amounts of rich investors. With nearly limitless resources and support, ProTerra's forces are mercenaries mostly, responding ruthlessly to any attack against them. They also enjoy holding up tradelanes and jumpgates. The Giant Political Shitstorm in Bretonia Politcal upheaval over what to do with remaining Broski tech led Space England to have many new politcal parties spring up against their traditional monarchy. Highly conservative, Bretonia condemned most people desiring any sort of reform politcal terrorists. Of course those "political terrorists" didn't help their image by responding with violent attacks. The new factions in Bretonia are: The Roundheads Originally a party desiring the establishment of some sort of parliamentary system, the Roundheads were labelled "politcal terrorists" and warrants for their arrest were issued. Hiding out among criminals, the group soon attracted many killers and anarchists, eventually leading to a coup of the original leaders, and the shift of focus from a peaceful political group to a violent criminal organization favoring anarchism. Worker's Force Formed by angry laborers, the WF was, similar to the Roundheads, labelled "politcal terrorists" and forced to flee. The difference is, many of their numbers owned numerous ships and factories, and the Worker's Force, instead of degenerating into actual criminals like the Roundheads, managed to put a 'politcal foot in the door' gaining support of many key coporations in Bretonia. The Grolious Country of Nippon Kusari Hit hardest by Broski Enterprises, Space Japan became increasingly afraid of the outside world, eventually they established a military empire over their systems, and closed their borders and gates off to all except a few. Today reports of Kusari tell of it being a massive, though contained, military state, constantly expanding to the northern systems with the help of a massive jump relay. The new Factions in Kusari are: New Yakuza Based of the original criminal group, the New Yakuza are a group of not-so-petty petty criminals, dealing highly in extortion and bribery. Feared by most normal Kusari forces, the New Yakuza share a shaky alliance with the Hogosha, due to similar interests. They operate freely in Kusari, and many visiting foreigners meet their end by the Yakuza. So please shoot the shit out of them Glorious People's Militia A group of like-minded vigilantes, the GPM are fierce nationalists who decided to take the 'raw' into their own hands. Supported widely by the police, they are not technically legal, but they bring in so many "criminals" that the police merely accept and often favor their existance. The Holy Roman Catholic Empire that is in Rheinland Though not obvious, the Space Germans were highly superstitious and religious, though that is redundant. With the arrival of Broski, many of them had their faiths and ideals shattered, and various cults and new schools of thoughts were established in Rheinland, who soon found their military increasingly fucking useless. Out of these cults rose two prominent factions, which are: The Holy Church of Rhine Effectively a new-age Protestant Catholic Church (No I don't get it either) The HRC became the main religion and ruling force of ze Rheinland ja? Supported by 98% of the population including the military and police, the Church holds a tight grip over the systems. While the higher clergy such as the Space-Pope and the Bishops are often truly men of faith with good intentions, the lower clergy tends to attact the seedier type, and as a result the Church is becoming increasingly corrupt. The Crusaders Split from the Church, the Crusaders are religious extremists, willing to convert all to Rheinlandism or destroy them. Famous now for suicide bombers all across Rheinland, they should have been dealt with by the Church. However the Church merely turns a blind eye and ear, refusing to discuss the matter with inquirers.